


5 Times Jack Danced for Pan and 1 Time He Didn't

by MewWitch



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Jack still can't hear the music, Jack was almost a Lost Boy, Much to Peter's disapointment, Peter's Pan Flute, kid!jack
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-01
Updated: 2014-03-14
Packaged: 2017-12-31 04:33:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1027270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MewWitch/pseuds/MewWitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Through out his life and several times afterwards, Jackson Overland Frost continued to encounter a strange boy and his odd pan flute.</p>
<p>Or... </p>
<p>5 + 1 Times when the Jack Frost meet Peter Pan</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Eight-and-almost-but-not-quite-nine years old

1.

 

Jackson Overland is eight-and-almost-but-not-quite-nine years old the first time he met the strange boy with the pan flute.

 

Jackson or as most would call him "Jack", had been running away from home. Or at least that's what he told the strange boy who'd suddenly jumped down from the treetops.

 

"Oh? And why would you want to do that?" The boy- Peter -had helped him climb back up to where he had been perched and together the two sat on the branch, legs swing out in the air. “You’re a bit small for a life out here in the woods. This isn't the place for little boys like yourself.”

 

Jack scowled at Peter. “You seem to be doing just fine.”

 

“Well I’m not a little boy.  Nor do I live here.”

 

“You don’t?” Jack had been sure he was living somewhere out here. Peter’s clothes were made of a thick sturdy fabric, it’s green and brown blended in seamlessly with the surrounding leaves. Not to mention the ease at which he moved through the branches, balancing with effortlessness that spoke of much practice.

 

“No. No I live someplace far away from here. I’m just passing through before heading back to Neverland.”

 

“Neverland?” Jack used to love listening to the travelers that would stop to rest from their journey. Most didn't mind sharing a tale or two with a curious young boy. He’d never heard of such a place as Neverland though. “What’s Neverland? Is it nice?”

 

“Nice? _Nice?!”_ Peter jumped up so fast, he almost knocked Jack out of the tree. “Neverland is the greatest land in all the realms! There’s adventure! Danger! Magic! And best of all, no grown ups to ruin any of it!”

 

“No adults?” Jack got up as well, albeit at a much slower pace.

 

“Absolutely none.” The older boy’s grin was infectious.

 

“I want to go there! Take me with you to Neverland Peter! Please!”

 

Rather than being happy at his declaration like Jack had expected, Peter quickly sombered. He stood perfectly still on the branch, a living statute as he scrutinized every inch of the boy before him.

“No.”

 

“What?” Jack felt like the tree holding him up had disappeared and he had plummeted back to earth, his sudden joyfulness extinguished. “But why?”

 

“Neverland’s not a place for you.” Peter told him as he began climbing down, Jack reluctantly following. “It’s for certain kinds of boys only. Ones who are unloved and unwanted.”

 

“That’s me Peter! No one wants me….”Jack sobbed _‘Not even you’_.

 

The elder sighed. “Go back to your family Little Jack.”

 

“But…they’re replacing me.” Jack didn’t want to go back. Didn’t want to return to the little wooden house and watch each day as his Mother’s belly continued to swell. To wait until the day when his parents would stop paying attention to him completely  in favor of this new child. It had already started to happen. He told his new friend as much.

 

Peter seemed entirely unsurprised by the news.

 

“I thought as much.” He kneeled down before Jack and place a callused hand on his small shoulder. “Tell you what, my young friend. If you can do something for me I’ll take you with me to Neverland.”

 

“Yes, anything!” Jack was prepared to do whatever it took to follow the boy. Peter straightened up and pulled a set of pipes out from his jacket.

 

“Dance with me.”

 

Jack didn’t hesitate. He twirled and jumped and spun with his new friend around and around, as much as the forest gave him room to do so. He danced and danced till his feet ached and his arms were sore, but he didn’t stop. He didn’t stop until he finally looked up and realized that his new friend was standing right back where he had started, blowing gently into the pipes.

 

But there was no sound coming out.

 

Peter opened his eyes, having heard the distinct lack of moving feet.

 

“Go home Jack.”

 

He didn’t understand. “But I danced.”

 

“Yes. But not to my music.” Peter put the instrument back where he had gotten it from. “You are no Lost Boy. You will never see Neverland.”

“You…you **_liar!!!_** Jack turned and ran back towards the village, his eyes burning with tears at the perceived  betrayal. He ran all the way back to his little two room house and straight into his Mother’s arms.

 

_*~*RotGOUaTRotGOUaTRotGOUaTRotGOUaTRotGOUaTRotGOUaTRotGOUaTRotGOUaT*~*_

 

That night Jack slept soundly, having cried himself to sleep, not stirring as his Father placed him into his bed nor when his Mother kissed his brow.

 

And he certainly didn’t wake as a young, but familiar trespasser slipped his way into the home and by his bedside.

 

‘ _No, this was no Lost Boy’_ , Pan thought to himself. _‘But perhaps, given a few years, if he manages to hold on to all that anger, he just might be able to hear the pipes after all.’_

 

“There’s just something about you, Little Jack....Keep an eye on the boy. “ He told his silent companion. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing him again someday.” Then Pan turned and disappeared.

His shadow lingered behind only a few moments more than him before fading away as well.


	2. Three Months From Seventeen

 

Jack is three months from seventeen when he follows some of the other boys from the village out into the woods.

 

 

He knew that he shouldn't be shirking his duties, it had meant a lot to him when his father had finally decided that he was ready to help with the sheep. His family had been sheep herders since Jack's great grandparents had come over on one of the first boats of settlers and the fact that he was trusted to watch over the flock, all by himself, was a trust he had been looking forwards to for a long time.

 

 

Unfortunaly for Olga and the other yews, Jack had a curious boy far longer than he'd been a responsible one.

 

 

_~*~RotGOUaTRotGOUaTRotGOUaTRotGOUaTRotGOUaT~*~_

 

 

Jack knew that the older boys-and on some occasions _men_ \- would sneak out to the forest to get away from the womenfolk sometimes, but he's never before gotten a chance to join them. He was usually too busy helping his father, or taking care of his sister.

 

Not that Jack had actually _joined_ the boys per say. No, at the moment he currently crouched behind one of the larger oaks that encircled a field about ten miles out from the nearest road into town. Jack hadn't thought twice about following his fellows out there, but now he was frozen between turning back towards his responsibilities or stepping forwards and joining the teens as they.....as they...

 

Well, he wasn't actually sure what they were doing.

 

In the center of the wooded glen the boys had constructed an enormous bonfire and were all gyrating around its edges, every so often leaping about with a reckless abandon.

 

Part of him wondered if they had stolen ale from the tavern and were just making fools of themselves. Another briefly panicked of the idea of them being possessed.

 

Though the longer he watched them holler and hoot their way around in a circle the more likely the former seemed like a possibility.

 

Jack was beginning not to care what the boys were up to either way though, as the more he stood shivering in his hiding place, the more inviting the fire was looking.

 

“What are you doing down there?”

 

Jack lost his balance and tipped forwards at the sound of a voice from above his head. Flipping over onto his back he watched as a boy about his age jumped down from one of the upper branches of the very tree he had been hiding behind.

 

“Have you been up there the whole time?!”

 

The boy laughed and offered his hand out to help him up. Too flabbergasted by the other’s sudden appearance Jack found himself unable to protest as he was hauled back to his feet.

 

“Not for the entire night, no. You never answered my question by the way.” When Jack merely blinked, he elaborated. “What are you doing all the way out here my new friend? What brings you out to our little merrymaking tonight?”

 

"I…I’m supposed to be watching the sheep, but I heard something coming from the woods. I didn’t really think about what I was doing, I just followed the noises...and ended up here."

 

The stranger grinned and threw his arm around Jack's shoulder. "Say no more, my friend you wouldn't be the first to get drawn into our fun and games that way, and I assure you, you certainly won't be the last! So who exactly are you lad?"

 

"...Jack."

 

"Nice to meet you Jack, the names Peter. Now come on then, what are we standing around here for? There's a perfectly good fire just over there, calling both our names!"

 

With the weight of the boys arm still strewn over him, Jack found himself being led past the tree line and into the clearing at a relaxed, but steady pace. Staring out of the corner of his eye at the elegant stitching and luxurious fabric, Jack couldn't help but feel rather plain in his simple vest and shirt. And that cloak! Jack doubted that his new friend even needed to stand next to the fire, his wrap looked like it was more than enough to keep the chill of the night at bay.

 

Perhaps he could bring the idea up to his father in the morning. He would be seventeen soon, maybe if he asked politely enough his parents might get him a cloak of his very own for his birthday.

 

As they grew closer Jack found himself letting the warmth of the fire wash over him. Jack could see out of the corner of his eye that Peter was staring at him expectantly. The look caused him to pause, and because the other’s arm was still around him, they both came to a halt just beyond the celebration.

 

“What?”

 

“Aren’t you going to join in?” He jerked his head towards the other boys, who had yet to stop romping about.

 

“Join what?”

 

"Isn't it obvious? They're dancing."

 

"But there's no music." He might have imagined it, but he was pretty sure that the hand on his shoulder tightened its grip slightly at the words. But Peter's smile never faltered as he continued to steer them both towards the assembly.

 

"Well, maybe you're just not listening hard enough."

 

For some reason, Jack couldn’t seem to find any argument to Peter’s logic. Maybe it was the warmth of the fire that continued to draw him in, maybe it was the way that the village boy’s amusement seemed to have caught hold of him now that he was closer. Or perhaps….

 

Perhaps it was the shift to the look in Peter’s eye as he watched him. A look that he refused to admit left him slightly unsettled.

 

Whatever the case was, Jack found himself offering up no further protests as he was enticed into the circle. Nor did he look back towards where his sheep were waiting for him as Peter led him through the dance.

 

 

_~*~RotGOUaTRotGOUaTRotGOUaTRotGOUaTRotGOUaT~*~_

 

 

When word reached his family the next day that the Constable's boy Felix had gone missing sometime during the night, well Jack certainly wasn't able to offer up any help.

 

His family knew he'd been tending to the sheep after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm soo sorry that it has taken me so long to add to this story. Those of you who've chapter 2 of The Case of the Bad First Date already know that I'd lost my flash drive as well as much of what I've been working on. Starting over from scratch has been difficult and a real blow to my modivation.


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